


A Lion's Heart

by Izupie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Bully Bakugou Katsuki, F/M, Midoriya Izuku is a Nerd, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Self Confidence Issues, Supportive Uraraka Ochako, Timid Izuku, this Harry Potter AU is so self indulgent sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 14:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19152805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izupie/pseuds/Izupie
Summary: Izuku is a muggle-born wizard in his first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, wondering how he even made it this far. He's got not friends, no prospects, and a bully.A chance spell reveals his true self, and he saves a girl from her own worst fears.But maybe she'll save him from his too.





	A Lion's Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who wrote a Harry Potter AU instead of writing any of the many many stories on the long to-do list? This disaster right here of course!~
> 
> This is really self-indulgent I'm sorry,,   
> I kind of bend the universe to my own whims a little in this one, since I can't remember the rules of Hogwarts and the wizard curriculum off the top of my head. So! just take it that it's just a Harry Potter/Hogwarts -style- AU and everything will be fine. I'm not sure when part 2 will happen, but it'll happen at some point!  
> I just really enjoyed writing this for fun, so I hope you get some enjoyment out of it too~ Thanks for reading!

Izuku considered the idea of just staying in the boy’s bathroom for the next hour and slipping back into his next class without anyone noticing. He wondered if he should be disheartened by the realisation that he probably could. Nobody would miss him. The clattering of footsteps and muffled conversations came from behind the bathroom door as the rest of Hogwarts bustled through the corridor outside, on their way to their classes, while he stood in the middle of the cold, empty bathroom, with his only company being the odd gurgling noise that came from the third stall along that nobody used.

Despite their age, the mirrors above the sinks were gleaming like they were brand new. He’d read in the most recent edition of _Hogwarts: A History_ that House Elves cleaned the castle while everyone slept, carrying out their duties unseen and unnoticed. He wondered if anyone ever thanked them. Izuku touched his fingertips to the ones in his reflection. The glass was cold and smooth and reflected a boy with a freckled pale face and untameable messy green hair.

He frowned and the person looking back at him frowned too.

This wasn’t right. He hadn’t seen the proud smile on his mother’s face and her joyful, sorrowful tears as she waved him on the train, just to waste his time in the bathroom. He wouldn’t let her loneliness be in vain. He had been studying magic ever since he’d received his acceptance letter to the school, and he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity because of a little fear.

Izuku straightened his red and gold tie and readjusted his still-too-long robes to sit more comfortably on his shoulders. He was near the end of his first year and he’d not made a single impression on any of his teachers or fellow Gryffindors. He was sure they barely noticed his presence at all. But that was fine – he wasn’t here to be popular – he was here to learn magic and develop a power that he hadn’t ever considered he could have. He had the knowledge of the piles and piles of books he’d studied about defending and attacking against dark magic and evil wizards, he shouldn’t waste the time he’d spent on it all… sitting alone in the library, making notes on his own at lunchtime, reading books in the dorm while everyone chatted and had fun…  

“Stop overthinking,” he mumbled to himself, “just stop overthinking.”

He didn’t deserve to be in Gryffindor.

Izuku swiped a hand over his reflection and swept out of the door, panicking as just how silent and empty corridor had become. He hoped he could still make it to class and be just on time!

Izuku’s footsteps echoed loudly as they pounded on stone, but he slowed nearly to a stop as he neared the classroom and noticed a figure propped up against the wall, right beside the heavy wooden door. His shoulders were slouched, hands shoved into the deep pockets of his robes, and his spiky blonde hair stuck up in every direction. A grin split his face as Izuku approached, and lamplight glinted off the green and silver of his tie as he pushed himself from the wall.

“Didn’t think you were gonna show, Deku. Thought I might have been wasting my time waiting for you,” he drawled in a deep, rasping voice.

“Then why wait for me in the f-first place?” Izuku asked boldly, though his voice wobbled and betrayed him.

“What did you say?”

Izuku flinched. “A-Aren’t you going to be late for your own class, Kacchan?”

Katsuki Bakugou narrowed his eyes a fraction, then waved a hand in front of his face dismissively. His voice lightened, but Izuku could still hear the venom dripping through his words as he said, “Doesn’t matter. I’m just glad I got the opportunity to wish you luck for your lesson with the Boggart. I just had this class myself and _exploded it_ with my powerful counter-spell. Since you’re a little muggle-born who’s scared of everything, who knows what kind of shape it’ll take for you? I wonder if it’ll be me?” he added with a sneer. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Izuku grit his teeth. “Y-You think my biggest fear, is _you?_ You don’t know anything about me Kacchan. You used to, but what I fear most- it could never be you. Now let me get to class.” He moved past Katsuki and put his hand on the door, though his head was bowed from being unable to face the rage shadowing his former friend’s face. But Izuku paused before pushing the door, and muttered, “I can’t wait to find out what form the Boggart took with you, Kacchan, I wonder what _you’re_ most scared of.”

Katsuki grabbed at Izuku’s tie and hissed, “What did you say you little shi-”

The door that one of Izuku’s hands was still resting on flew open inwards and unbalanced them both, Katsuki loosed his grip immediately and Izuku nearly fell into his teacher.

“What is going on out here?” Professor Yagi’s voice boomed at them from the doorway, despite his skinny frame, his piercing blue eyes passing over them both with a sharp understanding. “You’re going to be late for your class young Bakugou. I’d go straight there and apologise to your teacher that you were too caught up being a bully to get there on time, if I were you.”

Katsuki scowled and huffed but said no more, giving one last glance at Izuku he strode away down the corridor like he had all the time in the world.

Izuku stared down at his scuffed shoes. He should probably think about polishing them. Didn’t have enough money to replace them.

For a moment nobody spoke, then Professor Yagi gave a tiny sigh. “Come on young Midoriya, the lesson only just began while you were out here, you’ve not missed anything.” His deep voice was gentle.

“Um, th-thank you, sir,” Izuku muttered at the floor, surprised that his teacher even knew his name.

Izuku tried to ignore the looks he got from his classmates as he slunk into the classroom and hovered apart from them all at the back of the class. The room was cavernous, like most of the castle, with high ceilings and exposed brickwork, and the desks had been cleared away, providing a space around a brown trunk that sat in the centre of the room. A blackboard was stood behind it with the word ‘Boggart’ written in bright white chalk.

The trunk shook violently from time to time.

Professor Yagi made his way to the front of the class, his long robe billowing out behind him with each of his long-legged steps. He motioned that Izuku should come forward a little and join the rest as he made it to the trunk. There was a hushed giggling and whispers among the other children that made Izuku’s cheeks burn as he shuffled towards them, and he chanced a glance up to see curious faces turning and looking at him. He accidentally met the eyes of a pretty girl with short hair in a bouncy looking bob. She had pink cheeks and a sad expression while her neighbour whispered something into her ear.

Izuku looked away quickly.

Their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher cleared his throat loudly and immediately the room hushed.

“I need you all to pay attention today, class. This is advanced magic we wouldn’t normally teach until your third year. But I’ve been discussing it with the headmaster and we both agreed that this year’s first year students are particularly talented and hard working-”

Two boys at the front of the class, one with floppy blond hair and the other spiky flame red, whooped loudly and high-fived. Izuku wished he’d learned the names of his classmates.

“-With some exceptions,” the professor added playfully, giving a pointed look at the two boys as they groaned loudly. Izuku smiled a little. “So, we’ll be sprinkling the odd second and third year lesson into your curriculum. Starting today, with Boggarts. Don’t let your teacher down, I have faith in you all.”

An unusually serious hush fell over the students.

Izuku had read about Boggarts a few times in his textbooks. He could distantly hear Professor Yagi discussing how to banish one by using the _Riddikulus_ spell, but he was visualising his own notes about the fear creature, trying not to panic about what he might face and how much he didn’t want to appear foolish in front of his classmates.

“Boggarts are shapeshifting creatures, that will take the form of your greatest fear,” Izuku mumbled under his breath, reciting his notes. His hand rested on his chin as he thought. “The only way to defend against one is to recite the spell and think of a way to make your fear funny. Hand movements are very important though, don’t forget.”

A tall muscular boy near him, with white hair covering one eye, shushed him gently and Izuku jumped a little. “Oh, sorry,” he whispered. When he looked back to the front of the class someone was already approaching the trunk. It rattled more violently.

Professor Yagi waited for the petite blonde at the front of the class to nod at him before he opened the trunk from behind.

A giant brown moth flew out of it. There was a collective gasp and some shrieks as the huge insect flapped over their heads. Its huge, dome-like eyes reflected the group of children, and every hair on its body was visible as it landed heavily on the floor and began to crawl towards them all, one spindly, hairy leg at a time. The girl was holding a shaking wand in front of her and cringing visibly, but she still yelled, “ _Riddikulus!_ ” There was a flash and the giant moth condensed and twisted into a white pony with butterfly wings upon its back. The girl giggled in glee.

She moved away and another student came forward to take her place – the Boggart twisted and contorted into the shape of black clouds, letting loose a thunderous rumble and flashing with an electric blue light. When the charm was cast, the clouds turned pink and thick, like candy floss.

The pattern continued until another successful student moved away and there was a pause. Silence. There was only Izuku and the small pretty girl from before, with the pink cheeks, left to go. Izuku glanced over at her at the same time she did to him – their eyes met again and they both looked away quickly. She looked terrified.

Izuku’s chest felt tight. In a moment of unusual boldness, he clenched his eyes shut, raised his wand, and stepped forwards.

Instantly the Boggart reacted and shifted into a new shape; his own body was lying on the stone floor, eyes blankly staring ahead, while his mother was on her knees beside him, body wracked with waves of heaving choking sobs.

_Alone…_ A voice inside his head seemed to whisper. _You left her alone…_

Izuku faltered. His wand shook violently, and his breath came in short gasps as he watched the shape of his grieving mother look up, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she mouthed one word at him.

_Coward._

He can’t do it.

He can’t.

The word for the charm stuck in his throat and he gasped at the panic closing in on him.

Finally, Professor Yagi moved in front of Izuku, and he caught a brief glimpse of the Boggart transform into a miniature Hogwarts castle burning with raging blue flames before the Professor also yelled _Riddikulus_ and it squashed itself into a wobbling red castle made of jelly.

Izuku instantly felt tears of frustration and disappointment prick the backs of his eyes and cloud his vision. He’d failed.

The class remained silent, the atmosphere thick with their shock at the disturbing image of their classmate dead before them and the raw grief from the illusion of his mother.

The Professor placed a gentle hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s very advanced magic, as I said at the beginning of the lesson. It’s hard to master our fears.”

Izuku couldn’t even bring himself to look up at the sympathy he knew he’d find in his teacher’s eyes, so he kept his swimming vision glued to the floor as he shuffled back to the back of the class. Nobody said anything to him as he went.

“Go on then, Miss Uraraka. Last one, you can do it.”

“O-Okay,” the girl replied with some hesitation.

Izuku sniffed as he looked back up, wondering what the Boggart would transform into for her. He felt a kind of nervousness as he watched her slowly take the place before the magical creature. At once its jelly shape shimmered and expanded into a shadowy creature, rising as if pulled by an invisible string. It seemed cloaked in a black material that floated with no weight, hooded over a shadowed face.

Izuku had read about Dementors in books, but it was even worse up close.

The class exchanged panicked noises and whispers as the temperature in the room plummeted, and Izuku gasped as all the negative thoughts he’d been experiencing came crashing into his mind all at once.

_Alone. Coward. Failure. You are nothing._

But he was pulled back into the room by the sound of a frightened cry from the girl. Tears fell down her cheeks and she had both her hands over her eyes, wand abandoned on the floor where she’d dropped it. She fell to her knees and cried.

Izuku felt something hot and powerful pulse in his chest that dispelled his own fears. Its burn wasn’t unpleasant as it coursed through him and made him gasp again. Before Professor Yagi had even the time to move in front of her, Izuku had raised his wand and yelled the words that came tumbling out of his mouth, “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

Instantly a flash of brightest silver filled the room and a huge lion burst out of Izuku’s wand. It shook its glorious silvery mane and roared as students in front of him shrieked and jumped out of its path. It was easily twice the size of a regular lion, shining with a dazzling light, majestic and terrifying all at once. Its huge, powerful paws should have torn into the stone as it pounded towards the Boggart with its claws unsheathed, but it made no sound, and not even the dust beneath it was disturbed. It stood over the girl protectively and roared again at the Dementor the Boggart had transformed into. It shrunk backwards and flung itself back into its trunk.

Professor Yagi slammed the lid shut.

The lion’s tail whipped as the Boggart retreated, and it bent its great head to touch its nose gently to the girl’s head as it faded and dissipated into a silvery mist. Then it was gone.

She blinked huge brown eyes at Izuku, standing alone at the back of the room, wand still outstretched.

Izuku watched with a detached kind of interest as Professor Yagi moving quickly towards him calling his name, as the world seemed to spin, and black spots danced in front of his vision. His knees gave way and he felt his limp body hit something hard before the black spots joined up and he saw nothing but darkness.

\-------------------

Izuku groaned as he felt his consciousness return. Everything felt heavy.

There was a small feminine gasp beside him. “Izuku? Izuku, are you awake?”

_Who…?_

Izuku opened his eyes a crack and saw the face of the pretty girl leaning over him. Her long bangs tickled his cheeks and he felt them warm as he looked up at her expression of concern.

“U-Uh, y-yeah, I’m awake,” he stammered.

She smiled as she sat back, and he couldn’t help but think how much more a smile suited her more than anything else he’d seen on her so far. Her pink cheeks were round and gave her a friendly looking face, and when she smiled it made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

“I’m glad,” she breathed.

“What- what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” She made huge sweeping motions with her arms as she spoke. “The boggart turned into a- a- a dem- a creature I’m really scared of, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t do anything at all. But you summoned a _huge_ lion Patronus and got rid of it! It was amazing!”

Izuku’s memory was fuzzy, but he did remember it all. He sat up and realised he was in the hospital wing. Beds were all lined up against the wall either side and opposite him, covered in plain white linen. He was in the only occupied bed, while the girl was sat in a wooden chair at his side. He manoeuvred the pillows behind his back to support him, though his mind was racing.

He… _He_ performed that Patronus Charm?

That great lion Patronus… was _his?_

“I’m sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m Ochako Uraraka. It’s nice to meet you, thanks so much for saving me!” She smiled again.

“N-Nice to meet you, um, I’m Izuku Midoriya. Oh, but I guess you already knew that since you called me by my name earlier.”

Ochako giggled a little.

Izuku couldn’t help the smile that slowly lifted the corners of his mouth. But it faded quickly. “Anyway, I wouldn’t call what I did amazing,” he sighed, “I couldn’t even face my own fears.”

He felt a sharp tug of shame in his gut as he remembered being unable to cast the _Riddikulus_ spell.

Ochako touched his hand gently. “But you stood up to mine.”

Izuku looked at her smiling face and felt a blush creeping up his neck.

Ochako suddenly stood up and looked around her conspiratorially, then leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Hey, look, I’m not supposed to be here, it’s after curfew, but the nurse said you can go back to the dorm tomorrow night after you’ve recovered your energy. Meet me in the common room at midnight, I have a secret I’d like to show you, as a thank you for what you did.”

She gave him one last smile and ran through the hospital wing, looking carefully both ways out of the door, then gave him a wave as she disappeared into the corridor.

Izuku could still feel her warm breath against his ear.


End file.
